Apparatus for cleaning sand filter-beds.



`110.729,222. A E PATENTEDJUNE 2, 1993. A A `E; WgELAISNELL` A APPARATUS EURV CLEANING SAND FILTER BEDS.

APELIOATION EILED MAY s. 1902.

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

X0 MODEL.

PATENTED JUNE 2,1903..

E E( W.- BLAISDELL; APPARATUS EDE CLEANING SAND FILTER BEDS.

f lAPPLICATION IILBDMAY 3 1902- No MODEL. 1

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. PATENTED JUNE 2,1903. l

l E. W. BLAISDELE. A ,A APPARATUS EOE GLEANINGSAND PIETER BEDS.

` APPLICATION HLED MAY a, 1902. No MonEL. 4 sHEETsfsHEET A.A

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raras` LPatented J' une 2, 1903.

HIRAM W. BLAISDELL, 0F YUMA, ARIZONA TERRITORY.

APPARATUS 'FOR CLEANING SAND FILTER-BEDS.

sPEoIFrcATIoNfm-ming part of Letters rareza No. 729,722, dated June 2, 1903.

' Application filed May 3, 1902.` Serial No. 105,780. (No model.) A

To all whom z5 7nwy concern: i

Be itknown thatI, HIRAM W. BLAISDELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Yuma, in the county of Yuma and Territory of Arizona, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Cleaning Sand Filter-Beds, (Case E,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates toan improved ap` paratns for cleansing the surface of the sandV composing the bed of filters used in purify-` ing the supply of water to cities and towns. These filters are of various kinds, but are usually laid out in a series of parallel rows of beds, each bed being made of sand and inclosed by walls running longitudinally and transversely thereof. As these filter-beds are of large area, to do this work of cleansing the surface without the aid of machinery or mechanical apparatus involves an enormous amount of labor and expense, and in four applications-viz., Apparatus for cleaning sand filter-beds, Serial No.105,776, filed May 3, 1902; Apparatus for cleaning sand filterbeds, Serial No. 105,777, filed May 3, 1902; Apparatus for cleaning sand' filter-beds, Serial No. 105,7 78, and Apparatus for cleaning sand filter-beds, Serial No. 105,779, filed May 3, 1902--1 have set forth and described different styles of apparatus by meansV of which the iilm or crust upon the surface of the filter-beds is removed and the impurities removed from the sand lconstituting the up` In each of the cases per surface of the bed. referred to the cleansing apparatus is supported upon a supplementary carriage, which is arranged to travel lengthwise of a main carriage, said maincarriage being arranged to travel upon tracks providedupon the side walls of a single row of filter-beds extending,

lengthwise of said `filter-beds.

The object of this invention is to provide means for transferring said cleansing appa-` ratus from one row of filter-beds to another row of filter-beds adjacent and parallel thereing apparatus of the character described lengthwise of one rowof filter-beds and means to transfer said carriage from one row of filter-beds to another row parallel thereto.

The invention further consists in the combination and arrangement of parts set forth inthefollowingspecilication,and particularly pointed out in the claims thereof.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagram plan view illustrating a series of filter-beds consisting of three rows of said beds parallel to each other, together with a plan view of a carriage adapted to travel lengthwise of said rows of filter-beds and the longitudinal and transverse tracks upon which said carriage is `arranged to travel.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section taken through one of the filter-beds on line 2 2 of Fig. l, showing the carriage and one form of cleansing apparatus supported thereon, together with the mechanism by which said carriage is propelled, the carriage and filterbed being broken away to save space in the drawings. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 2, together with a portion of the longitudinaland transverse tracks. Fig. 4 is a detail side elevation, partly in section, 0f a portion of the mechanism by which the carriage and the wheels attached thereto are raised from the longitudinal tracks in position to travel Aupon the transverse tracks. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail vertical section taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a' detail plan and side elevation of the non-rotary shaft 46.

Like numerals refer to like part-s throughsaid filter-bed, and end walls v19 20, eirtending transversely of said filter-bed; The surface of each of the filter-beds is composed of sand 21, surrounded by said side and end Walls, through which the water 22 passes and is purified by filtration.

The apparatus for cleansing the filter-beds may be of any desirable form and may be of any of the forms hereinbefore 'referred to, but preferably consists of a suction-pipe 23, upon the lower end of which is supported a carrier-frame 24, said carrier-frame having attached at cach end thereof a chamber 25. The suction-pipe 23 is supported upon a su pplementary carriage 26, said supplementary carriage being arranged to travel upon tracks 27 lengthwise of a main carriage 28, and the main carriage 28 is provided with wheels 29, arranged to travel upon rails 30, a pair of said rails constituting a track emending lengthwiseofthefilter-beds. Amotorispret'- erably supplied upon the supplementary carriage 26 to move said supplementary carriage transversely of the filter-beds and lengthwise of the main carriage 28. Supported upon the supplementary carriage 26 mechanism is also supplied to raise and lower the suction-pipe 23 and the parts attached thereto-viz., the carrier-frame 24 and the chambers 25.

All of the mechanism hereinbefore referred to is illustrated and described in various types in the applications for Letters Patent hereinbefore referred to.

The rails 30 30 run longitudinally of each row of filter-beds, and at each end of said rows rails 31 3] and 32 32 (a pairof said rails 3l 3l and 32 32 constituting a track) are supplied, said. rails being supported upon the end walls 19 and 20. The main carriage 28, together with the supplementary*carriage and cleansing apparatus thereon, is moved lengthwise of the row of filter-beds 11 by an electric motor 33, supported upon said main carriage and having a sprocket-wheel 34 fast to the driving-shaft thereof and connected by a sprocket-chain 35 to a sprocket-gear 36, fast to a shaft 37, extending lengthwise of the main carriage 28 and having` fastened at each end thereof one of the wheels 29. It is evident that by starting the motor 33 the shaft 37 will be rotated through the sprocket gears and chain referred to, and thus the wheels 29 will be rotated upon the v'rails 30 and the `main carriage 28 will be propelled lengthwise of the filter-bed. After the surface of each filter bed has been cleansed by the apparatus hereinbefore referred to the said apparatus is raised by appropriate mechanism supported upon the supplementary carriage, is carried over the end walls 19 20, and is lowered to the surface of the next filterbed in the row, and so on until all of the filter-beds in one row have been cleansed. The cleansing 4apparatus is then raised and the main carriage propelled by the electric motor 33 until said main carriage stands midway between the rails 3l 31. The main carriage 28 is then raised, together with the Wheels 29, from the rails 30 30 as follows: Two pairs of Wheels 38 39 are provided, the wheels 38 beinglocated at the left of the carriage 28, Figs. 2 and 3, and the wheels 39 at the right thereof and at the proper distance apart to contact with the rails 31 31 when said wheels shall have been lowered a sucient distance by the mechanism hereinafter described. The wheels 38 are fast to a shaft 40, journaled in bearings 41 41 upon carrierarms 42 42. The carrier-arms 42 are pivoted upon a shaft 43, which extends transversely of the carriage 28 and rotates in bearings 44, fast to said main carriage. The carrier-arms 42 42 extend beyond the wheels 38, Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, toward the right in said gures and are slotted at 45 to receive the ends of a non-rotary shaft 46. The non-rotary shaft 46, the carrier-arms 42, and the wheels 38 are raised and lowered by means of the vertical screw-threaded shafts 47, arranged to rotate in bearings 48 in a cross-frame 49, fast to the main carriage 28. Y

The non-rotary shaft 46 is screw-threaded to receive the shafts 47 47, and each of said shafts 47 has fastened to the upper end thereof a bevel-gear 50, which prevents said shafts from moving downwardly lengthwise thereof with relation to said cross-frame 49, and a collar 51, yfast to each of the screwthreaded shafts 47, prevents said screwthreaded shafts from moving upwardly with relation to the cross-frame 49. The screwthreaded shafts 47 are rotated by means of the bevel-gears 50, each of said bevel-gears 5U meshing into a bevel-gear 52, fast to a shaft 53, extending transversely of the main carriage and arranged to rotate in bearings 54 54 upon the cross-frame49. The shaft 53 is rotated by means of an elect-ric motor 55, which has a spur-gear 56 fast to the drivingshaft thereof and meshes into another spurgear 57, fast to a shaft 58, arranged to rotate in bearings 59, said shaft 58 having a spur-gear 60 loose thereon and adapted to be locked thereto by means of a clutch 61, operated by a lever 62. The spur-gear 60 meshes into another spur-gear 63, fast to the shaft 53.

The wheels 39 are raised and lowered by means of a bevel-gear 64, fast to the shaft and meshing into a bevel-gear 65, fast to a shaft 66, arranged to rotate in bearings 67 upon the main carriage 28. At the righthand end of the shaft 66 is fastened a bevelgear 68, which meshes into a bevel-gear 69, fast to a shaft 70, said shaft 70 being operatively connected by gearing (arranged to operate substantially as that hereinbefore described, by means of which the wheels 38 were raised and lowered) to raise and lower the carrier-arms 71, pivoted to the shaft 72 and having ashaft 73, journaled to rotate thereon, to which shaft the wheels 39 are fastened.

The operation of the mechanism hereinbefore described for raising the carriage 28 and the mechanism supported thereon, together with the wheels 29, from the rails 30 is as follows: The motor 55 having been set in m0- tion rotates the gears 56 and 57 and shaft 58. The clutch 61 is operated by means of the lever 62 to lock the gear 60 to said shaft 58,

IOO

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of filter-beds 12.

and thus through said gear 60 the gear 63 is rotated, together with the shaft 53, to which said gear is fastened, and the different bevelgears fastened to said shaft 53 rotate therewith and impart a rotary motion to the several vertical screw-threaded shafts 47, lowering the carrier-arms 42 and 71, together with the wheels 38 and 39, supported thereon, respectively, until said wheels come in contact with the transverse rails 31. Upon continuing the rotary motion of the screw-threaded shafts 47 47 the wheels 38 and 39 will act as a fulcrum and the carrier-arms 42 and 7l as levers, the inner ends ofsaid levers being forced downwardly by said screw threaded shafts and the outer ends thereof raising the carriage 28 and the parts supported thereon, together with the wheels 29, from the rails `30. The carriage is now in position (it being understood that the cleansing apparatus has` been raised to clear the side walls 17 and 18) to be propelled along the transverse rails 31 31 until it is brought into the proper location to be lowered, by reversing the mechanism hereinbefore described, upon the rails 30 30, extending lengthwise of the second row of filter-beds 12.

The mechanism by which the main carriage 28, with the parts supported thereon, is propelled lengthwise of the transverse rails 31 consists of a sprocket-gear 74, connected by a sprocket-chain 75 to a sprocket-gear 7 6, arranged to rotate loosely upon the shaft 43 and having fastened thereto another sprocketgear 77, which is connected by a chain 78 to a sprocket-gear 79, which turns loosely upon the shaft 58 and is locked thereto by Vthe clutch 6l, which is operated in the properdirection therefor by means of the lever 62. When the carriage has been raised from the longitudinal rails 30 30, as hereinbefore described, the wheels 38are rotated by throwing the lever 62 in the proper direction to lock the sprocket-gear 79 to the shaft 58, and thus cause the said sprocket-gear to rotate, and through the chain 78 and sprocket-gears 77 and 76, the sprocket-chain 75, and sprocketgear 74 the shaft 40, together with the wheels 38, fast thereto, are rotated, thus rotating the wheels 39 upon the transverse rails 31 and propelling the main carriage 28 and the mechanism thereon lengthwise of the transverse rails 3l. When the carriage has arrived at the proper position with relation to the second row of filter-beds 12, the mechanism by which said carriage is propelled, as hereinbefore described, is stopped by shifting the clutch-lever 62, and the mechanism by which said carriage is raised and lowered is thrown into operation by reversing the electric motor 55 and throwing the clutch 61 into operation to lower the carriage by raising the wheels 38 and 39 from the transverse rails and allowing said carriage 28 to descend and the wheels 29 thereon to come into contact with the longitudinal rails 30 30 of the second row The mechanism hereinbefore described, by which the carriage 28 and the cleaning apparatus thereon are moved lengthwise of the filter-beds, is again operated and the second row of filter-beds cleansed, as hereinbefore described. The operation of transferring the main carriage from one row of filter-beds to another is then repeated for the third row of filter-beds 13, and so on nntil all of the beds in the series have been thoroughly cleansed by a single cleaning apparatus.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim, and desire by Letters Patent to secure, is-- 1. A series of filter-beds arranged in parallel rows, mechanism to remove impurities from the surface of said filter-beds, a carriage upon which said mechanism is supported arranged to carry said mechanism over the surface of one of said rows, and mechanism to transfer said carriage and cleansing lnechanism laterally from one to another of said rows of filter-beds.

2. Aseries of filter-beds arranged in parallel rows, mechanism to remove impurities from the surface of said filter-beds, a carriage upon which said mechanism is supported adapted to carry said mechanism lengthwise of one of said rows of filter-beds, and mechanism to transfer said carriage and cleansing mechanism laterally from one to another of said rows of filter-beds. y

3. A series of filter-beds arranged in parallel rows, tracks extending lengthwise of each of said rows, a carriage arranged to travel upon one of said tracks, mechanism to remove impurities from the surface of said filter-beds supported upon said carriage, and means to transfer said carriage and cleansing mechanism from one of said tracks to another.

4. A series of filter-beds arranged'in parallel rows, tracks extending lengthwise of each of said rows, a carriage arranged to travel upon one of said tracks, mechanism to remove impurities from the surface of said iilter-beds supported upon said carriage, a track extending transversely of said longitudinal tracks, and means to transfer said carriage and cleansing mechanism simultaneously from one of said longitudinal tracks to said transverse track and thence to another of said longitudinal tracks.

5. A series of filter-beds arranged in parallel rows, mechanism to remove impurities from the surface of said filter-beds, a carriage upon which said mechanism is supported, and mechanism to propel said carriage and cleansing mechanism longitudinally of each of said rows of filter-beds and transversely of said rows of filter-beds from one row to another.

6. A series of filter-beds arranged in parallel rows, tracks extending longitudinally of each of said rows, a carriage provided with wheels arranged to travel upon one of said tracks, mechanism to remove impurities from the surface of sa'id filter-beds supported upon IIO 'lower and raise said wheels into and out of contact, respectively, with said transverse track.

7. A series of iilter-beds arranged in parallel rows, tracks extending longitudinally of each of said rows, a carriage provided with wheels arranged to travel upon one of said tracks, mechanism to removeimpurities from the surface of said filter-beds supported upon said carriage, a track extending tr nsversely of said longitudinal tracks, whe. ls located upon said carriage, and mechanism to lower said wheels into contact with said transverse track and raise said carriage and cleansing mechanism and the wheels first named from said longitudinal tracks.

S. A series of lter-beds arranged in parallel rows, tracks extending longitudinally of each of said rows, a carriage provided with wheels arranged to travel upon one of said tracks, mechanism to remove impurities from the surface of said iilter-beds supported upon said carriage, mechanism to propel said carriage and cleansing mechanism lengthwise of said tracks, a track extending transversely of said longitudinal tracks, wheels located upon said carriage and arranged to travel upon said transverse track, and means to lower and raise said wheels into and out of contact, respectively, withY said transverse track.

9. A series of lter-beds arranged in parallel rows, tracks extending longitudinally of each of said rows, a carriage provided with wheels arranged to travel upon one of said tracks, mechanism to remove impurities from the surface of said filter-beds supported upon said carriage, mechanism to propel said carriage and cleansing mechanism lengthwise of said tracks, a track extending transversely of said longitudinal tracks, wheels located upon said carriage and arranged to travel upon said transverse track, mechanism to lower said wheels into contact with said transverse track and raise said carriage and cleansing mechanism and the wheels first named simultaneously from said longitudinal tracks, and mechanism to propel said carriage and cleansing mechanism lengthwise of said transverse track.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand ir. presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HIRAM w. BLAisDELL.

Witnesses:

CHARLEs S. GooDING, ANNIE J. DAILEY. 

